PRIME minister, José Sócrates, has said he supported a policy of “responsible openness” towards immigration.
Sócrates was speaking at the second day of the Iberian-American Summit in Montevideo, Uruguay, dedicated to themes such as migration and development. He was joined at the event by the President, Cavaco Silva.
He said that with regards to the question of immigration there was an eminent political choice to make on the part of each state. “Either opt for a unilateral and security driven path or opt for constructing a system based on security, but also done in a humanitarian spirit of co-operation with the immigrant’s country of origin.”
Before the heads of government present at the summit, Sócrates said that it was his Socialist government that had approved a new nationality law, as well as handing a proposal to parliament on Immigration Law to help facilitate inclusion.
“Portugal knows what it is talking about when it discusses the immigration theme because it has a long history and experience of both emigration and immigration and successful immigration cannot exist without a successful integration policy as well,” he concluded.
Sócrates also talked about the need to co-operate with other countries to fight the deplorable traffic networks in humans.
